Are Political Conventions a Thing of the Past?

CHARLESTON, W. Va. – Last week I lamented about the Democratic National Convention and predicted I would have similar regrets about the Republican National Convention this week, too! I do, but maybe I’m about to transform. From a purely technical television and internet vantage point, they were polished and well done. As predicted, the GOP learned from some of the DNC mistakes and had a cleaner show. I rate the Republican's production value an A-, with the Democrats at a B+, as they clearly had some more technical difficulties. Is this the future? Let’s “brunch” on that this week.

“Is the Old Convention Model a Dinosaur?” – As much as I like the charm, and folksy Americana of the traditional convention of years past, they may go the way of the Edsel. This year when I was discussing going to Charlotte for the GOP Convention (which would have been my twelfth), I said to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R) West Virginia, “These are nothing but glorified cocktail parties anymore.” And she agreed, “Yes, they are.” Now that we’ve shown that business can be conducted in a more modern, technological way, is there really a need to hold a national “pep rally” in one city, when you can do so from multiple locations and be far more diverse and inclusive? I mean why should we just pick two cities like Milwaukee and Charlotte?

“Vote for My Dad!” – As long as we’re at it about changing things, let me propose a bipartisan ban we might all be able to get behind. Please someone, can you ban the children of the candidates from prime time speaking spots? The “please vote for my dad” speeches are tiresome and quite honestly, about as pleasant as the sound of fingernails on the chalkboard. Did we really need to hear Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump? Did we really need to hear from Hunter and Ashley Biden? You know if they bolted the family, and endorsed the other candidate it would be newsworthy. But the, “My dad is the BEST!” speeches have got to stop. Yes, let the spouse speak, or designate ONE family member, but let’s stop the parade.

“Do as We Say, Not as We Do!” – The Trump campaign set itself up for wide-spread criticism. While the White House acceptance speech Thursday night was well produced, very few people in the crowd of 2,000 wore a mask, and there was little, if any, social distancing. They are getting hammered for it, and you can expect to see the footage in Democratic attack ads this fall. The video was taken at a White House event and is therefore in the public domain. The Democrats could do a documentary if they wanted. But this was an egregious, tactical error on the part of the White House. It screams, “Do as we say, not as we do!” and it just set a poor example in a crisis.

“Who Are These New Faces?” – One of the successes of the RNC was to showcase a lot of new and diverse fresh-faces in the party. I have not researched it, but my gut tells me this GOP convention had more women and people of color than any other Republican convention in history. If they really want this to be the “big tent” party that President Ronald Reagan envisioned, then it’s a good thing. Among the rising stars to watch are Gov. Kristi Noem (R) South Dakota, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) Iowa, Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) Kentucky and North Carolina Congressional candidate Madison Cawthorn, who will become the youngest member of Congress, at age 25, if he wins.

“The Highlights” – President Trump promised to appear live every night of the convention and did so. I do not believe any nominee from either party – let alone a sitting president – has ever done that. Tactically it was important, since Trump is well behind Joe Biden in many polls. If he wants to show he’s in charge, then showing up in person is critical. Perhaps the two most poignant things he did were when he issued a pardon for Jon Ponder, an African American ex-convict who launched a successful post-prison rehabilitation and jobs program. The other moment was when the President swore-in five new American citizens, who were immigrants and all people of color.

“What’s the Impact?” - Look, critics are going to say this is all political theatre and evidence of Trump’s “showmanship,” but it still made a very strong impression. Many polls, including the respected Ipsos Poll, show ten percent of voters are still undecided. The undecideds who made up their minds late in 2016 swung heavily in Trump’s favor, and likely represented his margin of victory in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, not to mention the Electoral College.

“If a Tree Falls in the Woods and No One is There” – The big question for both parties is, was anyone watching or listening to any great degree? As I pointed out in last week’s column, ratings for the DNC were down sharply from 2016, and the same holds true this year for the RNC. A side-by side comparison shows that on the first night of the conventions this year, Democrats won with 19.7 million viewers, compared to 17 million for Republicans. On night number two, Republicans won a narrow victory with 17.4 million viewers compared to 17.2 million for Democrats. On night number three Democrats won with 22.8 million viewers to 17.3 million for the GOP. I’ll post the ratings comparison for the final night of each convention, when it is available.

“What Say the Polls?” – The latest Real Clear Politics composite polls has the race 49.6 for Biden and 42.5 for Trump. That leaves 7.9 percent undecided or backing third party candidates. That’s where things stand today, with the debates and fall campaign to come in earnest after Labor Day.

Have you changed your mind at all, or are you solidly committed to one candidate? Please click the comment button and let us know.

Mark Curtis, Ed.D., is Chief Political Reporter for the six Nexstar Media TV stations serving West Virginia, its five neighboring states and most of the Washington, D.C. media market. He is a National Contributing Political Writer for “The White House Patch” at www.Patch.com.

© 2020, Mark Curtis Media, LLC

Photo Courtesy: Mark Curtis Media via the White House pool feed